Maynard Cooper & Gale to expand office

Maynard Cooper & Gale PC is planning a $1.13 million renovation of its downtown headquarters in the Regions Harbert Plaza.

Mark Drew, managing shareholder of Maynard Cooper & Gale, said the law firm plans to take another floor in the building to add to its six floors of office space as part of strategic growth.

Maynard Cooper has 184 attorneys and 103 staff members in its Birmingham office, and Drew said its strategic plan calls for another 10 to 15 attorneys to be hired per year going forward. Maynard Cooper also has offices in Huntsville, Mobile and Montgomery with an additional 30 attorneys and 25 staff members.

“This was a planned expansion that follows growth in numbers and our need for additional space,” he said. “The growth in our various practice areas allows and requires us to continue adding attorneys in our Birmingham office and other offices.”

Golden & Associates Construction LLC is requesting a building permit from the city of Birmingham for a commercial alteration at the law firm’s offices at 1901 Sixth Ave. N.

Maynard Cooper currently occupies floors 21 through 26 of the Regions Harbert Plaza, in more than 136,000 square feet of space with the addition of the 27th floor, which Drew said will be renovated by May 1.

In 1984, the firm started with 26 attorneys in downtown Birmingham’s Watts Building. The firm outgrew the space after only five years, and then moved to a leased space on the 23rd and 24th floors of the Regions Harbert Plaza in 1989. When the firm expanded to the 26th floor in 2008, it was also given an option to assume the 27th floor in 2012.

Drew said Maynard Cooper plans to continue to grow in its current markets based on new and existing clients’ needs. He said the firm’s Huntsville office building is close to capacity, and they expect to be in a position to expand it in 2013. With its lease of approximately 7,600 square feet of space in its Mobile office last year, the firm was able to expand its presence in the market and also allow room for future growth.

Despite the physical locations of Maynard Cooper’s offices, Drew said more than half of the firm’s work, especially on the litigation side, is outside the state of Alabama. He said the firm is considering opening new offices inside and outside the state to grow its presence and practice areas.

“Opening a physical office is a major time commitment and requires a significant amount of management focus and attention in order to be successful in a new market,” he said. “You must understand the market and address many different and very market-specific issues to be successful, so we want to be very thoughtful before opening any new physical locations.”

Other local law firms have also been on a growth path with an uptick in new partners and associate attorneys hired in recent months. Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP recently added nine Birmingham attorneys to its health care practice group.

According to a recent Robert Half International survey, about one in three law firms and corporate counsel nationwide plan to add legal staff in the first three months of 2012. Lawyers, paralegals and legal secretaries are the three most in-demand positions.

Bryan Rushing, the local division director with Robert Half Finance & Accounting, said firms in Birmingham and the rest of the state are expected to follow the nationwide hiring trends in the legal industry.

“A lot of the hiring is compensating for large cuts that were made in previous years,” he said.

“The legal industry cuts were extremely deep,” he said. “But there continues to be a demand in several areas that are fueled by the current economic conditions, such as bankruptcy, foreclosure, litigation, labor and employment law.”